UPDATE: Govt stays in place after non-confidence vote

Romania’s centrist democrat liberal Government stays in office after surviving the opposition’s no-confidence motion, which received 220 votes in Parliament on Wednesday but required 236 votes to pass. The motion was filed by opposition social democrats and liberals to derail Prime Minister Emil Boc's plan to cut public wages and increase taxes to meet budget-deficit targets set by the International Monetary Fund as a condition for a EUR 20 billion bailout. The opposition said the Government's measures delayed Romania's recovery from recession. Romania has implemented harsh cost-cutting measures this summer to meet the demands of the EUR 20 billion loan agreed last year. The measures, which have sparked mounting social unrest, include a 25 percent cut in public salaries, a controversial pension reform, public sector layoffs and tax raises. Mediafax